Mail-box.



0. E. PEDERSON.

MAIL BOX.

APPLIOATION FILED D130. '1, 1910.

1,010,519. Patented Dec. 5, 191 1.

OLE E. PEDERSON, F MONTEVIDEO, MINNESOTA.

MAIL-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

Application filed December 7, 1910. Serial No. 596,153.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLE E. PEDnRsoN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Montevideo, in the county of Chippewa and- State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail- Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to letter boxes, or mail boxes, and especially to such boxes adapted for use on rural free delivery routes and the invention has for its general object to provide a box of this description with improvements which will increase their usefulness without materially increasing their cost of production.

A special object of the invention is to provide a'box of the character specified with an improved indicator to inform the carrier whether or not there is any mail mat ter in the box to be collected by him, for the purpose of saving him the time and labor often spent in dismounting and looking into empty boxes.

A further object is to provide a box of the character specified with an improved box or receptacle for containing coins or money to be collected by the carrier to pay postage on unstamped letters placed in the 30 box, whereby the liability of the carrier overlooking coins or money in the main box, and the trouble of looking up money for stamps for unstamped mail, is avoided. A further object of the invention is to 5 provide a box of the character specified with the improved means for holding letters or other mail matter to which the special attention of the carrier is to be called, and especially unstamped letters, apart from the general contents of the box whereby the carrier is saved the time and trouble necessary to pick out such special pieces of mail.

WVith these objects in view the invention consists in a box of the character specified, provided with the improvements mentioned, the improved construction, arrangement and combination of the part-s of which will be hereinafter fully described and afterward specifically claimed.

In order that my invention may be readily understood, I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of it in detail in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 represents in side elevation 21 55 letter box with my improved indicator or flag thereon, the indicator being shown in full lines in position to show that there is mail in the box to be collected, and in dotted lines to show that the box is empty. Fig. 2 represents a detail view in perspective on an enlarged scale of part of the box showing the flag and its attaching and adjusting means. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lower flag bracket. Fig. 4 represents, in bottom plan view, a part of the inside of the top of a letter box provided with my improved coin or money receptacle and special mail holder. Fig. 5 represents the same parts in end elevation, the door of the box being omitted. Fig. 6 represents in per spective, my improved coin receptacle detached from the box, looking at the inside. Fig. 7 represents a similar view, looking at the outside and showing a letter held under the spring clip.

Like reference characters mark the same parts in all-of the figures of the drawing.

Referring specifically to the drawing, with the aid of the reference characters, 10 indicates one side, 11 one end shown as the front, 12 the bottom and 13 the top of a letter box of any ordinary or well known description, provided only that it is provided with a door in one end extending tothe top of the box, which projects at 14, for reasons hereinafter stated.

Upon one side, as at 10, near one end, in this instance shown as the front 11, of the box, is a bracket 15 secured in any suitable manner as by means of bolts, screws, or rivets 16, and provided with a barrel 17 fiag staff 18. Below and in line with the .1 bracket 15 is a somewhat similarly formed bracket 19, secured to the box in a similar manner by means of bolts, screws, or rivets 20 and provided with a barrel 21 forming the bearing for the lower end of the flag staff 18. The bracket 19 is however, provided,.in the upper edge of its barrel 21, with two notches 22 and 23 as shown, and the distance between the brackets 15 and 19 is slightly greater than the distance from the top to the bottom of the flag 24, the latter being of a rigid form, preferably of thin sheet metal and rigidly secured upon the staif 18.

WVhen it is desired to indicate to the approaching carrier that the box is empty, the flag is fixed in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, lying against the side of the box with its lower edge resting in the slot 22 of the barrel of the bracket 19, which will hold the flag in this position. When, however, it is desired to indicate to the approaching carrier that there is mail in the box, the flag is lifted out of slot 22, turned around to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 and dropped down to engage its lower edge in the slot 23, whereby it will be securely held in this position projecting prominently beyond the front of the box. The flag may be of any preferred contour or color, and may or may not be provided with any desired word or words placed thereon by painting or in any desired manner. A good arrangement for the purposes of the invention would be to have the exposed side of the flag in the full line position of figure of some striking color and the opposite side of the same color as that of the box so that it would attract no attention.

The front end of the box, as very common slideway, in this instance formed of sheet metal pieces 26 properly bent and suitably secured, to receive the edge flanges 27 of a box provided with a suitable handle 29, Upon the outside of the box 28, which will be the bottom thereof when in position in the letter box, is a spring clip 30, secured to the coin holder at its inner end, free at its outer end and normally pressing upward against the under side of the coin holder.

hen it is desired to mail an unstamped letter or other piece of mail, the letter is slipped under the clip 30, the coin holder drawn out, the proper amount of money placed therein, and the coin holder pushed back into position after which the door is closed and the flag placed in posit-ion to attract the attention of the carrier. The carrier, seeing the signal, will open the box, slide out the coin holder, take out the money, slide out the unstamped mail, return the coin holder, adjust the flag and pass on.

If desired, there may be inserted in the top of the box, over the coin holder, a pane of glass so that the carrier may see when it is empty and avoid the necessity of drawing it out to ascertain.

The utility of my invention will be obvik ous from the foregoing and while I have specifically described the construction of the several parts, it will be readily seen that variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus fully described my inven' tion, what I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent, is

The combination with a mail box, of a bearing bracket secured adjacent one end of the box near the top thereof, a second bearing bracket secured to said box in spaced alinement below the first bracket and provided with a slot extending diametrically across its upper face in parallel relation to the box side, a comparatively short shaft carried in said bearings and whose ends terminate in said bearings, said shaft being slidable and rotatable in the bearings, and a flag fixed on said shaft and being of a width slightly less than the space between the bearings and of a thickness less than the width of the slot in the lower bearing, whereby an upward pull on said flag will lift the flag and shaft bodily to slide the shaft in said hearings to lift the flag out of the slot of the lower bearing to permit rotation of said shaft so as to position the flag against the side of the box or project it beyond one end of the box, said flag being locked in either of said positions by engagement of the lower edge of the flag in the slot of said lower bearing, the upper edge of the flag being adapted to engage the upper bearing to limit upward movement of the fork and thereby prevent accidental disconnection of the shaft with relation to the bearings.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OLE E. PEDERSON.

TVitnesses:

OLOF GJERsET, THOR. P. GRAVES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

